3 Reasons Why Nitish Reddy could be a Mainstay in the Indian Test Setup

Nitish Kumar Reddy has been the find of the year for India in 2024. Especially in Tests, he emerged out of nowhere and impressed everyone with his performances in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25. Nitish is young, energetic, and can be trusted to be a pace-bowling All-rounder for a long time in the Indian Test setup. He might be the player India always looked up to, since Kapil Dev’s retirement.

As a batter, he has come lower down the order and added runs for India consistently. While he scored 30s and 40s in the first three Tests against Australia, Reddy came to his own in the Melbourne Test where he proved himself to be someone who can bat longer as well. India needs to back him for a long time. He could be a mainstay in the Test setup for various reasons.

Here are three such reasons to back Nitish in the red-ball format –

Fearless nature and skill sets

Nitish is someone who does not take a backstep from attacking the bowlers. He can play both conventional and nonconventional cricketing shots. Who can forget his audacity to reverse-scoop someone like Pat Cummins for a six? Nor can someone forget his nonchalant cover drive to the same bowler. He has skills and the dare to play shots.

Nitish can save the team from a collapse and help the team add some valuable runs with his aggressive batting. At the same time, he can bail out the team from difficult situations with compact batting. He does not play the bowler but rather plays the ball. Hence, he has been successful in batting against some of the best bowlers in the world like Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, and Scott Boland.

Success in his very first Australian tour

Not often does one get to see an All-rounder doing well in his very first Australian tour, which also happens to be their maiden Test series. Reddy has been brilliant as a batter and handy as a fifth bowler. He has been consistent as a batter and has provided wickets whenever needed. With time, he can only bowl longer spells at a higher pace.

In the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 (at the time of writing this), Nitish has scored 266 runs in 6 innings at a brilliant batting average of 66.50 and a batting SR of 69.81. His scores in the series have been 41, 38*, 42, 42, 16, and 87* respectively. With the ball, he has been handy, claiming 3 wickets in 6 innings at a bowling SR of 48.00, which is great for a fifth bowler.

Need of a pace bowling All-rounder

India has been looking for a pace-bowling All-rounder for a long time. Since Kapil Dev, India hasn’t had someone who could be trusted to deliver the goods for a long time. While many players like Hardik Pandya, Irfan Pathan, and others were tried for the role, they weren’t successful in having a long career as a pace-bowling All-rounder in the red-ball format.

It is also the reason behind India not doing well in overseas tours often. But with the emergence of Ravindra Jadeja, things changed for good, as he could play both as a batter and as a bowler in overseas Tests. But Jadeja has been approaching the twilight of his career and a replacement is a necessity. India might not have a better option than Reddy in the current set-up. He’s 21 years old and has a lot of potential.

Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.